Missouri Labor Laws for Salaried Employees: Overtime and Final Pay

If you draw a salary in Missouri, your rights on overtime, deductions, and paycheck timing come from two layers of law working together: the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and Missouri’s own wage statutes. Under Missouri labor laws for salaried employees, the pivotal question is whether you are properly classified as exempt, which turns on both a federal salary floor of $684 per week ($35,568 per year) and what you actually do on the job. Missouri layers its own rules on top: pay frequency, wage statements, final paycheck deadlines, and complaint procedures.

Are You Exempt or Non-Exempt?

Classification decides almost everything else. An exempt salaried employee is not owed overtime and is paid a fixed weekly amount. A non-exempt salaried employee still gets a salary but is owed overtime for hours past 40 in a workweek. Two tests must both be met to be exempt.

The Salary Test

You must be paid on a salary basis of at least $684 per week, which is $35,568 per year. The Department of Labor tried to raise that floor in 2024, but a federal court in Texas vacated the rule before the higher amount took effect, so the 2019 threshold is the enforceable number heading into 2026.¹²

“Salary basis” means a fixed, predetermined amount each pay period that doesn’t fluctuate based on hours worked or the quality of the week. Your employer can dock full-day absences for personal reasons or full-day disciplinary suspensions under a written conduct policy, but not partial-day absences or slow workloads.³ Routine shaving of a salaried paycheck for short weeks can destroy the exemption entirely and trigger back-overtime liability across the whole job classification.

The Duties Test

Meeting the salary number is not enough. Your primary duty has to fit one of three categories, and titles do not decide it.

Executive work: your primary duty is managing a recognized department or the business, you regularly direct at least two full-time employees, and you have genuine authority over hiring, firing, or promotions.⁴
Administrative work: office or non-manual work directly tied to management or general business operations, with regular exercise of independent judgment on matters of significance. Routine clerical work does not qualify even when it involves some decision-making.⁵
Professional work: advanced knowledge in a field of science or learning normally acquired through a prolonged course of specialized study. Licensed engineers, certified accountants, and registered nurses fit; skilled technicians who learned on the job generally do not.⁶

Someone with a manager title who spends most days on non-exempt tasks is not exempt. Misclassification by title is where employers most often end up writing large back-pay checks.

Overtime Rights If You’re Non-Exempt

A non-exempt salaried employee is entitled to overtime at one and a half times the regular rate for every hour past 40 in a single workweek.⁷ Missouri follows the federal standard. The workweek is any fixed, recurring seven-day period the employer designates; it does not have to start on Monday.

Hours cannot be averaged across weeks. A 50-hour week followed by a 30-hour week still owes 10 hours of overtime for the first week.⁸ The employer is responsible for tracking hours. If you’re salaried and non-exempt, timekeeping still applies, and gaps in the employer’s records tend to favor the employee in an enforcement action.

Pay Frequency and Wage Statements

Missouri requires corporations doing business in the state to pay employees at least twice per month, with wages due within 16 days after the close of each pay period. The statute carves out an exception that catches many salaried workers: executive, administrative, and professional employees, along with salespeople paid partly or fully on commission, may be paid monthly.⁹

The same statute requires a statement of deductions at least once a month, either printed on the paycheck or provided separately.¹⁰ Missouri does not mandate the itemized detail some other states require, but the statement must at least show total deductions for the period. Violating the frequency or statement rules is a misdemeanor carrying a fine of $50 to $500 per offense.⁹

Deductions From a Salaried Paycheck

Missouri is relatively permissive on deductions. Employers can deduct for things like cash register shortages and equipment damage, so long as the deduction does not pull pay below the applicable minimum wage, which reaches $15.00 per hour on January 1, 2026.¹¹¹² Deductions required by law, like tax withholding and court-ordered garnishments, are always allowed.

For exempt salaried employees, the rules tighten because of the salary basis requirement. An improper deduction can jeopardize the exemption itself and open the door to overtime liability. The FLSA provides a safe harbor that lets an employer preserve the exemption after a mistake, but only if four conditions are met: a written policy prohibiting improper deductions distributed to employees before the error, a way for employees to report violations, reimbursement of anyone affected, and a commitment to future compliance.¹³ The safe harbor disappears if improper deductions continue after complaints. If you’re exempt and you see an odd deduction, ask for the written policy; if none exists, the deduction may cost your employer the exemption for your whole classification.

Final Paycheck When You Leave

If you’re fired or laid off in Missouri, all earned wages are due immediately on the day of discharge. You can send a written request that the final paycheck be mailed to a specific location. If the money does not arrive within seven days of that written request, a penalty starts: wages continue accumulating at the same daily rate, for up to 60 days, until paid.¹⁴ On a $50,000 salary, 60 days of continued wages comes to roughly $8,200 on top of what was originally owed.

Missouri does not set a separate deadline for final pay when an employee quits voluntarily. In practice, wages owed to someone who resigns are typically paid on the next regular payday.

Vacation and PTO sit in a different bucket. Missouri does not require employers to offer paid time off, and it does not separately require a payout of unused time on separation.¹¹ If a written contract or company policy promises a payout of accrued vacation, that promise can be enforced. Check the handbook language for a “use it or lose it” clause versus a payout provision, because that policy is what governs.

Meal and Rest Breaks

Missouri does not require employers to provide meal breaks or rest periods to adult employees. There is no state law on the subject; it’s left to employer policy or an employment contract.¹⁵ Federal law does not require them either.¹⁶

When breaks are offered, the compensation rules depend on length. Short rest breaks of about 5 to 20 minutes count as paid work time. Meal breaks of 30 minutes or longer are unpaid only if the employee is completely relieved of all duties for the entire break. Eating lunch at your desk while fielding calls is compensable time.¹⁷

Retaliation Is Illegal

Federal law makes it illegal for an employer to fire, demote, cut hours, or otherwise punish you for filing a wage complaint, participating in a wage-and-hour investigation, or testifying in a related proceeding. The protection covers internal complaints to your employer as well as formal filings with the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.¹⁸

Remedies can be substantial. A court can order reinstatement, payment of lost wages, and an equal amount in liquidated damages, effectively doubling the back-pay award. The employer also pays attorney’s fees and court costs.¹⁹

How to File a Wage Complaint

You have two paths. For a Missouri minimum wage issue, contact the Division of Labor Standards at the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations and complete a complaint form. The Division can investigate and determine compliance, but it is not authorized to take your wage claim to court; if the matter needs litigation, you’ll need a private lawsuit.²⁰

For federal FLSA violations, such as unpaid overtime or misclassification, file with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division by calling 1-866-487-9243. Complaints are confidential.²¹

Timing matters. Under the FLSA, you generally have two years from the date of each violation to bring a claim. If the violation was willful, meaning the employer knew or showed reckless disregard for whether its conduct violated the law, the deadline extends to three years.²² Save pay stubs and any communications about your pay from the start. Reconstructing records two years later is where most claims get difficult.

1
U.S. Department of Labor. Final Rule – Restoring and Extending Overtime Protections
2
U.S. Department of Labor. Earnings Thresholds for Executive, Administrative, and Professional Exemptions Under the FLSA
3
eCFR. 29 CFR Part 541 Subpart G – Salary Requirements
4
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 17B – Exemption for Executive Employees Under the FLSA
5
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 17C – Exemption for Administrative Employees Under the FLSA
6
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 17D – Exemption for Professional Employees Under the FLSA
7
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 23 – Overtime Pay Requirements of the FLSA
8
U.S. Department of Labor. Overtime Pay
9
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. RSMo 290.080 – Employees Paid Semimonthly, Exception, Statement of Deductions
10
Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Does an Employer Have to Furnish Employees With a Statement of Deductions
11
Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Wages, Hours and Dismissal Rights
12
Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Minimum Wage
13
eCFR. 29 CFR 541.603 – Effect of Improper Deductions From Salary
14
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. RSMo 290.110 – Payment Due Discharged Employee, Exceptions, Penalty for Delay
15
Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Are Breaks or Lunch Periods Required
16
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 43 – Child Labor Provisions of the FLSA for Nonagricultural Occupations
17
U.S. Department of Labor. Breaks and Meal Periods
18
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 77A – Prohibiting Retaliation Under the FLSA
19
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 216 – Penalties
20
Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. File a Minimum Wage Complaint
21
U.S. Department of Labor. How to File a Complaint
22
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 255 – Statute of Limitations